Winners of the 2010 Photo & Video Contests

With some more than 240 photo and 30 video entries for our annual Photo and Video Contest, the jury faced a very difficult task in choosing the winners. The winning entries were exhibited at the European Conference on Rare Diseases (ECRD) in Krakow on May 14 & 15, 2010.

Enjoy more fine videos from this year's contest on the Rare Disease Day video channel.

More striking photos on the Rare Disease Day photo gallery. 

The winner and ten photo contest runners-up are collected in this photo set.

WINNING VIDEO

Garrett: The Boy Beneath The Bandages
Video by Andre J. Hermann

This touching video shows what day-to-day life is like for Garret, a boy living with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). EB is a rare genetic skin disorder, affecting an estimated 1 out of every 50,000 births. Children born with this disease lack the ability to produce the collagen-7 protein that acts as a glue to bind the inner and outer layers of skin together. This produces extremely fragile skin, which blisters easily at the slightest friction, such as clothing rubbing on skin. Garret & Andre J. Hermann give us a glimpse into how that feels.

Andre J. Hermann lives in the USA, and is a professional photographer.
His website: www.andrehermannphoto.com

WINNING PHOTO

Together we have more power, and more fun
Photographer: Ilona Brandt

The photographer, Ilona Brandt, shares a moment of high spirits in this prize-winning photo of herself and her twin sister, Claudia, cooling their toes in a fountain. (Ilona, left; Claudia, right). The twins are from Germany, and have been living with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type IIa) since 1968.

SMA is a genetic disease that attacks nerve cells, called motor neurons, in the spinal cord. These neurons communicate with voluntary muscles - the ones you can control, like in your arms and legs. As a patient loses the neurons, their muscles weaken. This can affect walking, crawling, breathing, swallowing and head and neck control.

Ilona says this about her and her twin sister’s life with SMA: “We share fun and misery. It’s not fine, but it’s okay. We’re rolling along our path, and we’re happy to be able to have some fighting spirit.”

This contest has been funded with support from the European Union's Health Programme and from the Association Française contre les Myopathies (AFM Téléthon).

The material only reflects the views of the author, and funders cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.

Author: Julia Fitzgerald

Photos: © Andre J. Hermann, Ilona Brandt